Cooking with confidence

Levi - Cooking with Confidence

With all of us locked up these last couple of weeks, we’ve found ourselves looking for something to do. I’ve turned to a long running hobby of mine, home cooking. Thanks to my parents I’ve been cooking since I was a child, and while I’m no professional chef, I like to think I’m quite good.

So far during quarantine I’ve made a cast-iron pan pizza with sausage and onion, beef stew with dumplings, crispy Chinese style beef, and potatoes with meatballs and a red pepper remoulade. I’d encourage anyone stuck at home to try some new recipes themselves. You’ve got nothing to lose, and all the time in the world.

Much like my work with Boys in Mind, learning to cook has helped boost my confidence over the years, and helped me to approach new situations with a practical outlook. One of the best lessons I’ve learned is that true confidence means having the confidence to make mistakes. You have to be willing to risk trying things without knowing how they’ll turn out, so you can learn from both your successes and your failures.

Cast-iron pan pizza with sausage and onion

Potatoes, meatballs and a red pepper remoulade

Beef stew with dumplings

In these unprecedented times, and with no idea how things might be in the future, it’s important to have confidence in yourself and those around you. Take some time to learn a new hobby, practise a skill, and don’t be afraid to relax either. It can be stressful to keep up with the twenty-four hour news cycle, especially at times like this, so if you’re off from work don’t be afraid to take it easy and focus on yourself for a while

It’s important not to let mental health slip when we’re all stressing about physical health. There’s a bevy of resources being shared at the moment, from online exercise and meditation sessions, to live streamed music lessons. And while we might be practising “social distancing” we can always reach out to our loved ones by phone and online.

So, in these unusual and sometimes scary times, don’t forget to move forward with confidence. Mistakes can be lessons, and successes are all the more rewarding for their daring.